Pictures
by Wackysocks
Summary: James finds a photo album of Lily's and reflects on the life he had before he became an Auror. James' POV. LJ Companion to 'Photos'


**Disclaimer- **I do not own the Harry Potter series or the characters, all are the property of J. K. Rowlings.

Pictures

James Potter was tired. Exhausted was a better word for it. He was sitting at his desk at the Ministry finishing up his weekly report. It had been horribly long this time, because of the two raids he had been a part of. Not that much had been uncovered. He finally finished the last sentence and placed the sheaf of papers in an envelope. Tapping it with his wand, he sealed it and handed it to his owl.

"Head of Auror Department," he told it. It flew out the door.

He leaned back in his chair, took off his glasses, and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He could go home now. He put on his glasses again, and his eye fell on the three framed photos sitting on his desk.

The first one was a picture of the four Marauders at their Hogwarts graduation. He and Sirius looked just the same as always – grinning cheekily. Their photo selves would occasionally wink or nudge one of the other occupants. Remus smiled politely. He looked rather peaked in the photo – he had just recovered from a full moon. Peter looked nervous, though James didn't know why, and shocked, like he thought he would never be able to graduate in one piece.

The second one was of him with his parents right before his sixth year at Hogwarts. They were smiling nicely and waving at him – the picture James looked rather cheeky. Lily always told him that whenever she saw him with the picture, she could see the love and hate of her life at the same time. Of course, she had never actually _hated_ him – it was just a figure of speech. This picture always made him sort of sad. His parents had died in a Death Eater attack right after he graduated.

The third was of himself and Lily on their wedding day. They were both twenty – youthful and radiant. Well, he thought _Lily_ was radiant. That day had been one of the happiest in his entire life. The picture showed it, too. Lily looked perfectly happy. No worry lines, no fear in her eyes. Not like now.

James got up out of his chair and started to walk to the main entrance of the Ministry. He would floo home from there at one of the fireplaces. He ran his hand through his hair subconsciously. _Man, I wish Lily could be happy. She always seems so stressed out_. It was true. This war was hurting everything he loved. At least they still had their moments.

James smiled to himself. _Two more months and I'll be a father! Me! A father! And Frank too, and Arthur getting another one any day now. _Yes, there were still times of happiness despite the world they lived in.

He reached the main entrance and walked up to a fireplace. He took a pinch of Floo powder.

"See you tomorrow, James," said a tall man with curly brown hair who was stepping into another fireplace.

"You too, Fabian," he replied, tossing the Floo powder on the fire.

The flames roared green, and he stepped in, calling out, "Potter residence in Godric Hollow!"

He spun through the flames, spinning and spinning . . .

. . . and then he tumbled out onto the rug in front of the fireplace in his home. He readjusted his glasses and looked up to see his beautiful and very pregnant Lily asleep on the couch. He smiled, got up, and dropped a kiss on her forehead before heading to the kitchen.

He got himself some leftover lasagna and went over to the table to sit. As he began eating, he noticed a small brown leather book sitting there. Flipping it over, he found a title:

**Lily's Hogwarts Photo Album**

His eyes widened. Lily had made a photo album? Of her time at Hogwarts? He opened it to the first page and almost laughed aloud before catching himself. There was a page of Muggle photos of Lily in her new uniform and getting her supplies with her parents. They obviously hadn't gone to the camera shop in Diagon Alley.

He turned the page and saw moving pictures underneath the title _First Year _– familiar places like Platform 9 ¾, the Hogwarts Express, the trolley witch, and a picture of eleven-year-old Lily with three of her new friends. One was now dead. Most of the pictures he saw had captions labeling what or who they were.

He turned the page again and saw the corridors of Hogwarts, the Great Hall, the common room of the Gryffindor Tower, Lily's dormitory, the Quidditch Pitch, the lake, and many other places that had become almost as close as home over the years.

He turned the page to see the title _Second Year_. New friends. New textbooks. Finished things she had gotten to keep, such as some half-Transfigured objects and small vials of Potions that Professor Slughorn had given to them. Harmless ones; such as for calming, cheering, or dreamless sleeps, of course. Pictures of the Great Hall at Halloween and at Christmastime. A couple Quidditch pictures. One was even labeled _Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff – Quidditch Cup Match_.

_Third Year_. Same friends. New textbooks. Many of the pictures were of her friends doing things together, and almost all of the pictures were in Hogsmeade. Every place Lily liked to go in that town had a picture in the book.

_Fourth Year_. One of the first pictures was Lily with her first boyfriend. Their relationship hadn't lasted long, Lily had told him, but she had obviously found it memorable enough to give it a spot in her book. New textbooks. More Quidditch pictures. In one of them, James could faintly see himself, zooming around on one of his first brooms. There were also a couple pictures of Lily and her friends at some of Lily's favorite spots.

_Fifth Year_. James wasn't surprised to see that the first picture was one of her new textbooks. Several of the next were of him – the old him. He found himself grinning as his fifteen-year-old self played with his Snitch, ruffled his hair, and goofed off with his friends. One picture showed him hexing someone in the corridor. They were all labeled _My Stalker_ or _Hogwarts' Biggest Idiot_ or _World's Greatest Prat_. He smirked at those. He had been decidedly different as a teen. He turned the page.

_Sixth Year_. New textbooks. Friends doing silly stuff. Lily had stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas for the first time that year, so many of the pictures were of the Great Hall and the Gryffindor Tower decked out in Christmas finery.

_Seventh Year_. New textbooks. Pictures of homework papers with O's or of her with her friends studying. Then one picture in the bottom right-hand corner of the page caught James' eye that he remembered being taken.

He was standing with Lily in front of a snowy Hogwarts with an arm around her shoulders. They were both smiling. Lily's friend Alice had taken that picture. James still recalled her exact words. _Come on, Lily, let me take it! I want one of my best friend when she's finally come to her senses!_ He had laughed at that, and Lily had had no choice but to humor her. There were several of himself with Lily – at Hogsmeade, in class, or just them doing something normal. But they were together. These differed from the ones of him in their Fifth Year; they were both happy. They were all labeled in more loving terms. _James Potter._ _James & I at the Three Broomsticks. My most favorite boyfriend ever!_

He turned the page to see the heading _Graduation_ and tons of photos of Lily with her friends. There was even the very one of the Marauders that he had on his desk at work. Now that he saw it, he recalled that Lily had taken a photo of them, too. Many people had – the Marauders were going to be remembered for a while at Hogwarts.

He closed the book. It was a beautiful memoir. Every picture was lovely charmed into it, and all the captions were written neatly and carefully. He finished his lasagna and started to wash the plate.

"James," said a sleepy voice.

James turned to see a bleary-eyed Lily, hair tousled from the couch, looking into the kitchen at him.

He smiled at her. "Hello, love. Sleep well?"

Lily sighed. "Okay, I guess."

"I saw your photo album."

Lily looked at him. "Did you like it?"

"It was beautiful, dear."

Lily smiled and walked over to bury her head in his chest. "I wanted to remember. Such a wonderful part of my life," she said contentedly. He stroked her hair.

"How was work?" she asked sleepily. He paused.

Now was not the time to tell her the death count from the raids this week. Not the time to tell her that another of her friends had died. Not the time to talk about the war, or suffering, or death.

"Fine," he said. Within a couple more seconds, she was asleep. He carried her upstairs and tucked her into bed.

She looked peaceful, content. Happy. And he had thought she wasn't? No – they were still happy. Still happy and in love, despite the times they lived in.

A/N- another bad ending. Should I do a companion piece being a Lily's point of view as she makes the album? Review please!

Wackysocks


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